with the Song Be. 1RAR then moved by helicopter to Landing Zone Jack, also east of the Dong Nai but closer to the Song Be by about 5 km. Following an artillery preparation and tactical airstrikes, the Australian battalion was on the ground by midmorning. Shortly afterwards, helicopters delivered a battery of four 105-mm. L5 pack howitzers belonging to the 105 Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery. Tyler's 1/503rd followed in the afternoon at Landing Zone King (), about 1.5 km southwest of the Dong Nai-Song Be junction. The two infantry battalions devoted the rest of the day to settling in and clearing fields of fire. The Australians set up very close to their landing zone, which was located near a paddyfield that stretched east and south towards small hill masses ranging up to 25m in height. The hills had many open areas but also contained jungle in some places. There the trees could reach up to 40m in height and the undergrowth was tangled thick with vines and underbrush. Observation out from the laager for about 50m was good, and cover and concealment were excellent, but fields of fire on the approach favored the VC. 1/503rd was in similar terrain north and west of the Australians. Units from the two battalions began working outwards to the south and east of their bases on 6 and 7 November, employing company and platoon-size patrols. Except for two fleeting exchanges in which the Australians killed 3 VC, neither force found the VC main forces. Both did, however, uncover empty camps complete with supplies and equipment, bunker and tunnel complexes, and a number of booby-trapped huts. They destroyed everything they could. On 7 November 1/503rd continued probing west of the Dong Nai, a few kilometers north of the original landing zone. Late that afternoon camp was established near the bottom of Hill 65 (), an important objective to Tyler because the hill provided excellent observation and intelligence had pinpointed a VC unit about 2 km to its west. The information on the VC position seemed promising, for the message in which it was identified had included the words Sour Apples. During briefings prior to the operation Tyler and his operations officer had been instructed to keep a special watch for the phrase and to make certain that the area it signified was searched. Just before dark on the 7th Tyler sent patrols to check